


i'm ready for the crush

by Dresupi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adult Fred Weasley, Adult Hermione Granger, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Declarations Of Love, F/M, Fade to Black, Fluff, Fred Weasley Lives, Friends to Lovers, Groping, Happy Ending, Idiots in Love, Light Angst, Love Potion/Spell, Making Out, Mutual Pining, Non-Explicit, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Canon, Snogging
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 15:24:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17706794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: It was a well-documented fact to everyone except the man himself, who was either in denial or thicker than anyone had ever encountered, that Hermione was head over heels in love with Fred.So, how exactly should she react when one of his wheezes goes wrong and leaves him mad with love forher?





	i'm ready for the crush

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cutie_bug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutie_bug/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [cutie_bug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutie_bug/pseuds/cutie_bug) in the [Conversation_Heart_Prompts_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Conversation_Heart_Prompts_2019) collection. 



> _A/n: Fic title from ‘Lemon Crush’ by Prince._
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> ❤️😘🙌 You are a saint
> 
> **_Conversation Heart Prompts 2019_ **

“Crush Caps, a short-term love potion in sweet-heart candy form,” George explained in a somewhat rushed way. On the other side of the bedroom door, directly behind him, Fred rapped impatiently.

_ “Are you still there, ‘Mione?” _

“How on earth does it work?” Hermione asked, dutifully ignoring Fred for the time being. “Usually, love potions need something from the giver.”

“Well, for one, it  _ doesn’t _ work. That’s why you’re here.  And ideally, a breath,” George replied. “The giver blows over the candy and gives it to their intended victim. It’s supposed to last five minutes tops.”

“So why is Fred--”

“Stark-raving mad in love with you for going on nine hours now?” George finished for her. “No bloody idea, Hermione.”

“I’ve  _ never _ even seen the things before, let alone breathed on them… why in Godric’s name is he in love with  _ me _ ?”

“No bloody idea, Hermione,” George repeated.

She exhaled slowly. “Did you call a mediwitch?”

“Yes. That was the first person I called, as a matter of fact. She said he was fine. Just a little addled, but it should all wear off by morning.”

“And I’m here because…” Hermione asked, waving her hand vaguely.

“It was either  _ I _ bring you here, or he would escape and find you himself. I figured this would be safer for him.”

Hermione rolled her eyes and reached up to touch her hair. This wasn’t the first time she’d dealt with the Weasleys’ untested Wheezes. It  _ was,  _ however, the first time one of them had proposed to her through a locked bedroom door, but she supposed there was a first time for everything.

“Look, he won’t hurt you, okay?  He’s not going to--”

“Oh Merlin, George! I know  _ that _ ,” Hermione scoffed. “He’d rather die than hurt me. I know that. I’m just nervous because… well…  _ you know why _ .”

It was a well-documented fact to everyone except Fred, who was either in denial or thicker than anyone had ever encountered, that Hermione was head over heels, didn’t need a Crush Cap, in love with Fred.

George’s hand came out to squeeze her shoulder. “You should just tell him how you feel…”

There was a muffled thump from the locked bedroom that gave both of them a jolt. Fred must have had his mouth pressed to the keyhole because she could clearly hear him. “Hermione? Is she still here, George? Hermione! I love you, darling, please don’t hide from me!”

“How is that door holding him? Couldn’t he just magically unlock it?”

“I locked it the muggle way,” George replied, producing a skeleton key, which he handed to Hermione. “And you know, just to keep you from changing the subject,  _ something _ tells me he’d be very receptive to hearing about your feelings.”

She snorted out a laugh. “Perhaps after the Crush Caps wear off,” she mused. “Definitely not while he’s still muddled into thinking he loves me.”

“While I suppose you’re  _ technically _ right, I think he’d be receptive to it no matter when you told him,” George said.

She laughed again. “Pull the other one, George.” She didn’t give him time to counter, simply squared her shoulders and marched towards the door, jamming the key in the lock.

Once she had, Fred practically flew into her arms for a tight hug. “Hermione. I just  _ knew _ you’d come.” Both of his arms surrounded her, his chin resting on the top of her head as he sighed in relief. She felt entirely surrounded, warm, and safe. 

She had to admit, he gave great hugs. Even when he wasn’t trying.  Unlike now. Right now he  _ was _ trying, and the hug was simply amazing. But keeping it cool was what was needed here. She could melt into a puddle about this hug when she got home to Crookshanks and her empty apartment.

Hermione slowly stepped out of his arms, because if she didn’t do it now, she’d remain there forever.“George tells me you’ve had a bit of a mishap with a love potion?”

“Mishap nothing! I love you and I’m finally unencumbered enough to tell you!”

Hermione sniffed back a giggle. “I don’t think you’ve ever been too encumbered to say what you felt, Fred.”

“It’s true, ask George. I’m simply  _ crazy _ about you.”

“Insanity did cross my mind as a possible cause…” she said slowly. “Wouldn’t you like to sit down on the sofa?”

“With you?” he asked, reaching for her hand. “We don’t even need a sofa. We could both fit nicely in that armchair.”

The armchair he was referring to was rather small for two, but considering his predicament, Hermione felt it was safer to simply ignore him rather than comment on it.

“The sofa’s fine,” She said, taking a seat on one side and gasping a little when Fred squeezed in flush against her, his hands reaching for hers.

“Have it your way…” he said with a grin. A grin that never faltered, even when she motioned for him to scoot down. “Was only kidding, ‘Mione. I know you’re uncomfortable.”

It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable with the way he was acting, it was more the  _ why _ he was acting. It wasn’t real and that was the presiding thought flitting through her mind with every second that passed. None of this affection was his to give willingly. He was under the influence of a stronger force.

“Well, I…” she stammered, glancing over to George for some help.

George took a seat in the armchair and cleared his throat. “How are you feeling, Fred?  Now that Hermione’s here with you?”

“Right as rain,” Fred chirped, gazing down at her with utter adoration.

She looked briefly over at the clock on the wall. It was nearly nine, how much longer could he stay awake?

& & &

Apparently a while.

Fred’s head nodded into sleep around two am, at which time, George offered the spare room to Hermione for what was left of the night.

She wanted more than anything to be home with her Crookshanks, but seeing as he had food enough to get him through the night, a quick kip in the Weasley Twins’ guest room wouldn’t be remiss.

Sleep found her the second her head hit the pillow, and she didn’t wake for several hours, not until the light was streaming in through the window and across her face.

She woke up slowly, unsure of her surroundings until she took a look at what she was wearing and remembered just what had happened the night before.

A veil of disappointment shrouded her as she poked her head out into the rest of the flat, hoping against hope that the twins were still asleep and she could sneak out without being noticed.

No such luck, it appeared.

As she crept from the guest room, her foot hit a squeaky board and alerted both of the inhabitants to her presence.

“Oy!” said George first, bustling out from the kitchen with a cuppa, which he pressed into her hands. “Do stay for some tea, Hermione. Fred’s back to his usual self.”

“Bully,” she said softly, taking a gulp from the mug of tea and following George to the kitchen to find a very subdued Fred seated at the kitchenette, sipping his own mug of tea.

“Hullo,” he said quietly, quieter than she’d ever seen him as he became very interested in the contents of his mug. “How did you sleep, Hermione?”

“Well enough, though nowhere near  _ long _ enough, I’d wager…” Hermione said slowly, standing awkwardly in the doorway until George nudged her into the room.

“I really must be off to the shop, so I’ll have to leave the two of you here. But talk, will you?” George nudged her again. “Talk now so you won’t have to later. And so I won’t have to kill the two of you for driving me insane, eh?”

George stepped into the other room and they heard the gust of the fireplace as he flooed to the shop.

Hermione entertained the notion of making a run for it but thought better of it as her feet carried her further into the room to take a seat across from Fred at the table. She cradled her mug in two hands before speaking.

“Fred…”

“Honestly, Hermione, I’m so sorry,” he said, the hurt apparent in his voice. “Truly, I never meant to put you through anything like that. I never thought it would  _ do _ what it did.”

“What exactly  _ did _ it do?” she asked, curiosity getting the better of her as she pondered him from across the table. “Was it one of my hairs in the batch? I bet I was hanging around your shop too much while you were brewing it. My hair ends up everywhere, I swear... will everyone who tries one fall just as madly in love with me as you did?”

“It wasn’t your hair and I certainly hope not,” he said with a small chuckle.

Her brow knit with confusion. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Well, as far as I can tell, in lieu of another witch’s or wizard’s genes to draw from, it mostly will just… amplify whatever feelings were already there.”

“Oh,” she said shortly, thinking for a split second that she’d somehow transferred her feelings through the meddled-with-sweet and into Fred, but coming quickly to the sharp realization that he was referring to his own feelings instead.  “ _ Oh…” _

“Hermione, I promise, this won’t change our relationship whatsoever. It was bound to come out eventually, what with you being  _ you _ , and being so bright and figuring things out so quickly and all... “

“I never figured it out before, though…”

He tilted his head in sympathy. “ _ ‘Mione _ … come now, darling. You had to have some inkling? I acted like a right git around you most times. George said I was being obvious.”

She shook her head. “I never had even a notion, Fred… but that’s likely because my own feelings were clouding my judgment.”

There was a long pause while Fred’s forehead wrinkled, his eyes quizzical when he finally locked them back on hers. “What does  _ that _ mean?”

“It means…” She set her mug down on the table, deciding that it was now or never. “What if I don’t want our relationship to remain where it is?”

“What?” he asked, bewildered. Almost as if he couldn’t believe what she was telling him.

“What if I felt the same way, and I wanted to explore those feelings?”

He swallowed thickly, throat bobbing. “Do you?”

She licked her lips before nodding. “I do.”

He exhaled and sat back in his chair, one hand on his chest. “You’re apt to kill me with your talking like that.”

“I certainly hope not,” she countered.  “You’re sure that love potion’s worn off?”

He nodded. “I am. And I’m dreadfully embarrassed about the way I acted. That’s not how I meant for you to find out.” He ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. It was an odd look for Fred Weasley. Embarrassment.

She had to shift gears somehow.

“How did you mean to tell me?”

He blinked and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I always assumed you’d figure it out before I ever got up enough courage to tell you myself.”

“But if you had. How would you have told me?” she asked, a small smile playing on her lips.

A smile Fred mirrored as his hands dropped from in front of his face, one landing on his leg and the other on the tabletop. “Well… I probably would have mucked it up, but what I’d have attempted was to tell you in a way that you’d have no question in your mind about my intentions. A way that you’d know I was telling the truth and not kidding around for once…”

Hermione reached out to grasp the hand on the table in both of hers. “How would that have gone?”

“Well, it would have been at night for one, not early in the morning.  And we’d have dinner. Not tea.”

She had to stifle the urge to leap across the table and snog his brains out. Even if it was what he deserved.

“Alright, and after dinner?” Her thumb traced circles on the back of his hand, drawing his gaze for just a moment before he looked back up at her to speak.

“After dinner, I’d look you in the eyes and tell you exactly how I feel about you… how you make me feel like the smartest man in the world when I say something clever, how you make me giddy when I’m able to make you laugh. I’m right addicted to that feeling, you might say…” he chuckled and looked down at their hands for a split second.

It was all the time her subconscious needed, apparently. 

Because it was soon propelling her out of her chair and into his with him. The force scooted the chair noisily on the floor as he wrapped both arms around her waist in surprise. 

His lips were still moving when she kissed him. Trying to say something else lovely, no doubt. He broke off the kiss only for a short moment to babble some kind of exclamation that died on his lips when he truly seemed to realize she was in his lap. 

Fred grunted softly into her mouth as he lifted her from his lap and onto the table in front of him, standing soon after and leaning over her since her arms were still tightly linked around his neck. 

Her lips were frantic, but he soon slowed her down, calming her overwrought hormones with soft pecks and the whispered sound of her name. “Mione…”

“Hmm?” she asked, taking the opportunity of having him bent over atop her to run her tongue along his bottom lip. 

His shoulders stiffened above her. “As much as I want to do…  _ that…  _ I feel we must adjourn to another room. This is a shared tabletop and George wouldn’t appreciate our plans nearly as much as I would…”

Her face reddened at the thought and she grinned, nodding and tightening her hold around his shoulders as he hoisted her into his arms, bridal style, and out of the kitchen.

His bedroom felt so far away, but soon, they were both crawling up the length of his mattress to settle back into their snogging.

Her hands were aptly curious, slipping beneath the hem of his t-shirt and the waistband of his flannel pajama pants, never seeking very deeply, just enough to make his breath hitch as his fingers remained annoyingly still, frozen at her waist no matter what she seemed to do.

“Fred…” she whispered, tugging at his hands in a futile attempt to move them. “Fred…”

His nose nuzzled against hers. “Yes, love?”

“I want you to touch me, please…”

“I am, though,” he teased, wriggling his fingers at her waist, but giving in and slipping both beneath the hem of her blouse. He inched them up her torso until he encountered the lace cups of her bra.  Fingertips plucked the cups ever so gently until a palm cupped around the entire mound, pressing it slightly upwards until it had nearly slipped from the cup altogether.

His lips pulled softly at hers, even while his thumb moved over the stiffened tip of her breast, the sensations running down her spine.

Her back arched into his touch and his lips pressed softly against hers. “Hermione…” he whispered. “Tell me when to stop.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then tell me how to make you feel good.”

She would gladly give him all the help she could muster.

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy! <3 Leave me some sugar if you liked it! <3


End file.
